130th to 136th: Cerita Thomas Cup

Cerita pasal Thomas Cup pulak.
So, this year, Thomas Cup buat kat Malaysia. The last time it was held here, I was still working with the Blue Car Co., so dapatlah masuk free as we were the main sponsor. Tapi waktu tu Malaysia fared miserably, failing to qualify to the semi kot, or didn't we go through to second round at all? Can't remember.

As you all know, we won uncontested against the non-showing Nigerians, lost to Japan and won the Q-final tie against Denmark on the decider to meet up China in the Semi Final. Pagi Jumaat tu tengah breakfast kat area near the office, aku tersms Des tanya whether he'll be in the stadium later. He said yes and asked my whereabout. I said, I'm in JB tapi kalau sampai the stadium before 7pm, boleh masuk tak? Dia kata dia boleh adjust.

Teruuusssssssss aku set mind to leave office earlier, in order to arrive in Bukit Jalil by 7pm to watch the Mas-Chn match live from the venue. At 1pm, aku gerak ke Bukit Jalil from JB. Aku dah tak peduli kalau bos aku cari ke CEO aku cari ke, aku akan cakap je aku nak gi tengok badminton, I'm doing a NATIONAL SERVICE. Kalau diorang nak sack aku, go ahead. Aku boleh leave earlier and join Emerald earlier. Hehehehe...

Anyway, arrived Bukit Jalil around 5.30pm. Had to wait for Des to do some office stuff kat tempat lain. So, aku pun tinjau laa keadaan di luar stadium. Not long after that, Indonesia just qualified to the final, beating Japan. Their fans yang tak dapat masuk banyak yang tengok match tu ikut tv kat booth Astro. So, macam dalam stadium jugak lah.

Then, ada lah tv Indonesia interview wak/mas/bung ni lepas game tu, kira die-hard fan Indonesia lah.


Yang aku sakit hati je, mamat ni cakap lebih kurang macam ni, "berdasarkan permainan tadi, saya rasa yakin Indonesia mampu menewaskan China di perlawanan akhir." Damn! They're expecting China to beat Malaysia in the semi. Aduussss... support lah sikit team se'rumpun' kan? Ekekeke... Ni pulak penyokong-penyokong Malaysia sebelum masuk ke stadium nyanyi lagu semangat...

Just before the Lin Dan-Chong Wei match started, Des came and pass me the complimentary ticket. I've to be alone as he has to be somewhere else at the stadium. So, aku tunjuk tiket aku, diorang guide aku ke area seat yang paling bawah, yang floor level. Kira macam kalau korang tengok team LA Lakers main game NBA, seat aku tu macam seat Samuel L. Jackson duduk laa... ekekekeke. Syok siot memang depan-depan mata je.

Sebaris dengan aku, ni haa... die hard fan team Malaysia pulak, yang drapped with Jalur Gemilang tu. On the right of the pic, yang bajur jalur-jalur tu officials team Indonesia, scouting the match. Sebelah diorang (takde dalam gambar, tempat team China and Malaysia).


Dan seperti yang korang tau, Malaysia kalah dengan China 0-3, all in straight sets. Tak puas aku duduk seat Samuel L. Jackson tu tau. Ni aku sempat record Lin Dan's winning point and his breakdance afterwards, that broke many Malaysian hearts.


Tapi sempat jugak aku bergambar dari seat aku right after the match dengan tanpa perasaan sedih pun. Huhuhu...



Since ada tiket free for the final, aku rasa takpelah pergi tengok jugak walaupun Indonesia-China yang main final tu. Dan aku kena babysit si Kembar Kecoh tu pulak, diorang nak merasa tengok Thomas Cup. Too bad lah Malaysia tak qualify kan, so diorang sokong China dan aku sokong Indonesia...

So, lepas habis lari kat Padang Merbuk, aku pun balik rumah siap-siap, gi fetch Kembar Kecoh dan bawak diorang ke Stadium. Dalam stadium, penuh merah putih je penyokong-penyokong Indonesia. Kalau dari segi sorak, menang diorang lah daripada China. Tapi stadium tak sepenuh semi final Mas-Chn hari tu sebab mungkin penyokong Malaysia yang dah beli tiket, ramai tak datang. In the end, China menang 3-0. Aku takde amik gambar sangat sebab masih keletihan dari larian pagi tu, mata pun kuyu je...

Malaysia pulak, kena tunggu lagi dua tahun lah nak cuba rampas semula Piala Thomas, mungkin kena tunggu genap 20 tahun baru dapat semula kan? Tapi walaupun kalah, penyokong-penyokong Malaysia sayang juga lah dengan Lee Chong Wei. Tadi everytime Chong Wei nampak kat stadium je, orang jerit-jerit nama dia, waktu prize giving pun penyokong masih beri sokongan pada Chong Wei. That's the spirit.

Sekian sahaja laporan Piala Thomas 2010 bukan bersama Hasbullah Awang. Oh ya, waktu lawan Denmark itu hari, dia sebut "Bagaikan sepit rambut, melekat di jaring dan jatuh..." Ekekekeke...